No model to replicate

Published: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, October 5, 2009 at 4:06 p.m.

To The Editor: I keep reading letters expressing admiration for our Medicare system. Many of these state this information as proof that a national health care system should be embraced as positive since it is so good for Medicare recipients.

Well, I am on Medicare. This past week I received a statement from Pardee Hospital for my share of the costs of a CT-scan that I received from the Imaging Center there in May. The total charges from Pardee that were submitted to Medicare and my secondary insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield was $2,845. Medicare ended up paying $285, BC/BS paid $0, and I had to pay $79.

Thus Pardee was paid a total of $364 for a procedure for which they charge almost $3,000. It doesn't take much imagination to foresee a future with "national" health care similar to Medicare in which the providers (Pardee for example) will be forced to ration providing services for things like CT-scans since they will not be ableto afford to provide them for the allowed reimbursement by the government program. It is clear that today the health care system is being heavily subsidized by those with private insurance and those without insurance who can afford to pay.

<p>To The Editor: I keep reading letters expressing admiration for our Medicare system. Many of these state this information as proof that a national health care system should be embraced as positive since it is so good for Medicare recipients. </p><p>Well, I am on Medicare. This past week I received a statement from Pardee Hospital for my share of the costs of a CT-scan that I received from the Imaging Center there in May. The total charges from Pardee that were submitted to Medicare and my secondary insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield was $2,845. Medicare ended up paying $285, BC/BS paid $0, and I had to pay $79. </p><p>Thus Pardee was paid a total of $364 for a procedure for which they charge almost $3,000. It doesn't take much imagination to foresee a future with "national" health care similar to Medicare in which the providers (Pardee for example) will be forced to ration providing services for things like CT-scans since they will not be ableto afford to provide them for the allowed reimbursement by the government program. It is clear that today the health care system is being heavily subsidized by those with private insurance and those without insurance who can afford to pay.</p><p>Michael P. Tower</p><p>Hendersonville</p>